Russia S Economic Transitions

This work delivers the unpopular message that the West has played a pivotal role in the Russian economic disaster of the 1990s. The 26 contributions to this book examine this topic which is divided into three parts: theory, evidence, and policy.

Russia's Economic Transitions examines the three major transformations that the country underwent from the early 1860s to 2000. The first transition, under Tsarism, involved the partial break-up of the feudal framework of land ownership and the move toward capitalist relations. The second, following the Communist revolution of 1917, brought to power a system of state ownership and administration - a sui generis type of war-economy state capitalism - subjecting the economy's development to central commands. The third, started in the early 1990s and still unfolding, is aiming at reshaping the inherited economic fabric on the basis of private ownership. The three transitions originated within different settings, but with a similar primary goal, namely the changing of the economy's ownership pattern in the hopes of providing a better basis for subsequent development. The treatment's originality, impartiality and historical breadth have cogent economic, social and political relevance.

Here, for the first time, two of Russia's leading economists provide an authoritative analysis of the transition to a democratic market economy that has taken place in Russia since 1990. Serguey Braguinsky, a Russian economist with extensive international experience, and Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal "Yabloko" party and a major public figure in Russia, focus on the institutions that are critical to a successful transition and the economic incentives needed to make these institutions work. Finally, they discuss in detail the specific components of the economic processes that are necessary for economic transition in general and they draw lessons that can be applied to other nations dealing with similar transitions. In 1989, Grigory Yavlinsky became a member of the Commission for Economic Reform and wrote the groundbreaking "500 Day Plan," which outlined the first program of transition to a market economy. Two years later, he co-wrote the program of strategic cooperation between the Soviet government and the West (known as the "Grand Bargain"). Here he and Serguey Braguinsky examine what went wrong with the Russian plan--and what is needed to put the economy back on the road to becoming a fully functioning market economy. The first section of the book presents a new interpretation of the political economy of the socialist state and the incentives and institutions that underpin it, with an emphasis on the present Russian situation. The second part deals with the political economy of "spontaneous transition" and the inefficiencies inherent in economies that lack the organizations and institutions that inhere in established Western democratic economies. In the final section, the authors present a program of actions to put the economic transition in Russia back on track, based on their assessment of the actual current state of both the economy and the government. Their approach is unique in emphasizing organizational evolution at the microeconomic level instead of stressing macroeconomic issues such as money and inflation that are at the heart of most arguments. This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book and one that will be widely discussed and debated.

This book studies the evolution of the middle class in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Using data from the RLMS (Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey), the volume covers the period of transition (1991-2008) during which many fundamental economic reforms were implemented. The first part of the book is devoted to a discussion of the concept of middle class and a description of the economic situation in Russia during the transition period. Particular attention is given to variations in the distribution of Russian incomes and the estimated importance of the middle class. The second part of the book focuses on the link between the middle class and income bipolarization. The third and last section of the book uses the semiparametric "mixture model" to discover how many different groups may be derived from the income distribution in Russia, as well as what the main socio-economic and demographic characteristics of those groups are. The mobility of households into and out of the middle class during the transition period is also studied in hopes of determining the factors that contribute to such mobility. Using rigorous empirical methods, this volume sheds light on a relatively unstudied economic group and provides insight for countries which are about to enter a transition period. As such, this book will be of great interest to researchers in economics and inequality as well as professionals and practitioners working with international organizations.

This volume covers the economic progress made by the new states of the former Soviet Union in the transition from command to market economies. Topics discussed include: political and economic adjustments; the domestic dimension; macropolicies; restructuring; and regional and world integration.

An evaluation of the efficacy of different forms of liberalization since the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, in the form of 13 essays on economic and political reforms. Following an extensive introductory essay (Economic Reform: Appropriate Steps and Actual Policies), the remaining essays are organized in three parts: fundamental components of economic reform; specific problems in reform; and comparisons and evaluations. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This book analyzes privatization reforms, property rights, and raiders in post-Soviet Russia. The author surveys the existing literature in the context of predatory raiding in Russia and introduces the notion and concept of this phenomena; he suggests that the study may serve as an explanatory model for corporate, property, and land raiding in Russia. Building on previous scholarship, this monograph conceptualizes the predatory character of corporate hostile takeovers in Russia and links it with the coercive nature of the ruling authoritarian regime. This project will appeal to scholars, graduate students, and researchers in Russian and Post-Soviet politics, capitalism, corruption, and property rights.

This paper examines the effects of three "shocks" - the disintegration of the U.S.S.R., domestic economic reform, and changing relations with other countries- on Russia's balance of payments position. The importance of consistent economic reform and a liberal trade regime is stressed, together with the role of financial assistance.